DWP recovery from estates - Pension credit

Seasalt3

If you were living with your mum, on the electoral  roll and paying all the bills not sure she would have  been entitled to pension credit

gizz_10

Seasalt3 said:

If you were living with your mum, on the electoral  roll and paying all the bills not sure she would have  been entitled to pension credit

DWP reviewed our situation in 2019 and still awarded her pension credit.  There is no law about who has to pay then household bills or not. That doesnt come into any assessment.  Pension credit is all about income and once awarded they do not dictate how you should spend it? The Living situation was fully above board and DWP were fully aware - yes i have always been on the electoral roll - though not sure why you have even brought that up.  If as you say you are "not sure", then please don't complicate and confuse things with replies that do not help.  The post is asking for information from people who know how it works or what the situation is -you are  merely speculating.  

gizz_10

Keep_pedalling said:

gizz_10 said:

mwddrwg said:

Seasalt3 said:

You say you were living with your mum whilst she was claiming pension credit.  My understanding is that all household income is taken into account when assessing if there is an entitlement to pension credit so your personal income should also have been taken into account. 

I think that only applies to people living together as a couple (married or not) - not the children of said person/couple

DWP were fully aware of our living situation and I was listed as a non-dependent on all the paperwork.  As far as we understood it would only have affected her claim if I was paying rent to her t to live with her (eg like a lodger would) which would have increased her income - which i was not - ie me living with her did not increase her income for pension credit purposes.  We were living together in the family home which I grew up in.

You were in effect paying rent by paying all the household bills. 

Can you show me any legislation or DWP links that state this to be the case?  As far as i can see pension credit is all about income, they do not dictate how it should be spent.  I have not seen anywhere that paying the bills for someone constitutes paying them an income.  

Keep_pedalling

gizz_10 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

gizz_10 said:

mwddrwg said:

Seasalt3 said:

You say you were living with your mum whilst she was claiming pension credit.  My understanding is that all household income is taken into account when assessing if there is an entitlement to pension credit so your personal income should also have been taken into account. 

I think that only applies to people living together as a couple (married or not) - not the children of said person/couple

DWP were fully aware of our living situation and I was listed as a non-dependent on all the paperwork.  As far as we understood it would only have affected her claim if I was paying rent to her t to live with her (eg like a lodger would) which would have increased her income - which i was not - ie me living with her did not increase her income for pension credit purposes.  We were living together in the family home which I grew up in.

You were in effect paying rent by paying all the household bills. 

Can you show me any legislation or DWP links that state this to be the case?  As far as i can see pension credit is all about income, they do not dictate how it should be spent.  I have not seen anywhere that paying the bills for someone constitutes paying them an income.  

No, but this would likely be seen as a contrivance to hide rental payments and something the DWP would have been unaware of when she applied for PC. You were clearly paying all of your mother’s living expenses which is a very unusual arrangement and could not in any way be interpreted as a loan.

Had you simply split the household expenses 50/50 you would not now be in this unfortunate position. 

gizz_10

Keep_pedalling said:

gizz_10 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

gizz_10 said:

mwddrwg said:

Seasalt3 said:

You say you were living with your mum whilst she was claiming pension credit.  My understanding is that all household income is taken into account when assessing if there is an entitlement to pension credit so your personal income should also have been taken into account. 

I think that only applies to people living together as a couple (married or not) - not the children of said person/couple

DWP were fully aware of our living situation and I was listed as a non-dependent on all the paperwork.  As far as we understood it would only have affected her claim if I was paying rent to her t to live with her (eg like a lodger would) which would have increased her income - which i was not - ie me living with her did not increase her income for pension credit purposes.  We were living together in the family home which I grew up in.

You were in effect paying rent by paying all the household bills. 

Can you show me any legislation or DWP links that state this to be the case?  As far as i can see pension credit is all about income, they do not dictate how it should be spent.  I have not seen anywhere that paying the bills for someone constitutes paying them an income.  

No, but this would likely be seen as a contrivance to hide rental payments and something the DWP would have been unaware of when she applied for PC. You were clearly paying all of your mother’s living expenses which is a very unusual arrangement and could not in any way be interpreted as a loan.

Had you simply split the household expenses 50/50 you would not now be in this unfortunate position. 

Its not unusual in our culture - we support our elderly and look after them - that is normal for us. It shocks me how many elderly I see left to muddle along with no help from their relatives, barely able to make ends meet. I see this with my neighbours and also do whatever i can to help them whenever i can.

  I was paying the bills for my own home which i lived in since being a child. Nothing to do with rent. Its all very well to say "Had you..." in hindsight.  I never thought that paying the bills on my own home, as I was the only one with a decent income, would result in this.  In any case it makes no odds to me - mum left what little she had saved to her grandkids (my sibling's children) - so I am merely trying to understand what the legal position is.  Hence would appreciate advice around the questions I have asked about that rather than hindsight reflections on what we should have or could have done, as that is all irrelevant now.  Its about whether the kids get it or the DWP get it all back.
If I was to claim that she owed it to me, I would of course take legal advice and if it was possible, I will just share that with the grand kids as she intended.

So to those who have actually replied answering the questions asked, thank you. 

Mojisola

Seasalt3 said:

I know someone whose adult grandson moved in with her and she lost her pension credit as he was working

Unless there is something more to this, it shouldn't have happened.  Sounds like a mistake by the DWP or the claimant not understanding the forms and adding the extra income as theirs.